Abstract
The assessment of ecosystems and landscapes requires reliable and simple tools. Climate determines broad type and distribution of ecosystems. Therefore, it is a major factor to consider in environmental analysis and ecological regionalization. A standardized bioclimatic classification would be useful to characterize and compare different ecosystems. In this paper, Defaut’s Phytoclimatic System (DSPS) was tested at regional scale in two European areas: Baden-Württemberg (Germany) and Emilia-Romagna (Italy). DSPS phytoclimatic units and vegetation belts and climatic parameters are illustrated and discussed. In addition, as an example application, a map of phytoclimatic units of Emilia-Romagna is designed. Some challenges in matching vegetation to DSPS were found: 1) in areas where transition from one stage to another are not sharply delineated and different vegetation types are intermixed; 2) in alluvial lowlands; 3) in heavily anthropized areas. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that DSPS can be a useful tool in ecological regionalization and in landscape analysis.
Highlights
1.2 Defaut’s System of Phytoclimatic Stages (DSPS)
Clusters of points show that boundaries between lowland-colline, submontane and montane belts go from upper-left to lower-right. Both B-W climagrams, based on RZF and PNV2013 show the same pattern of altitudinal belts
According to DSPS both the stations are in Boreo-Montane stage, suboceanic sub-stage (BM b-c)
Summary
Vegetation and their relationships can be analysed in many different ways. Usefulness of a particular method depends on the purposes and aims of the analysis. Because of the importance of vegetation as indicator of ecological conditions, phytoclimatic classifications are helpful in the analysis of other aspects of ecosystems and anthropogenic landscapes where natural vegetation is modified, degraded or even removed. They are important tools in the assessment and prediction of changes in vegetation induced by climate change. Emberger’s works (1955, 1964, in Defaut 1996) inspired Defaut’s “system of phytoclimatic stages” (Defaut 1991, 1992, 1996, 2015) Different from the former system, limited in its use to the Mediterranean zone, or to a zone that has only one climatic regime (Morat 1969), this latter system was devised for the entire Palearctic Domain. For a detailed account of each phytoclimatic stage, associated vegetation and morphogenetic/ sedimentary phenomena, the reader is referred to Defaut (1996)
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